What happens if I adjust the draft down without a draft test?

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mfglickman

Minister of Fire
Jan 17, 2012
676
NW CT
I am burning pellets at a pretty alarming rate, with lots of semi-burned ones dropping into the bin. Rolling flames at room temp 70, feeder 3, blower midway between L and H. New Harman XXV installed 3 days ago, have been burning 2.5 bags/day and max temp on the thermostat in the next room was 64 (generally running between 60 and 61).

My installer did not do a draft test, Manual says having the draft too high will reduce efficiency and too low will shut down ignitor...so is there any harm in adjusting it a bit lower to see? If it shuts down the ignitor I just adjust it back up, right?

Dealer is closed today so I can't get his take on it...

Thanks!
Mary
 
I am far from an expert, but I just played around with mine until it seemed to burn the best based on how the flames looked.
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
Mary where did they place the room probe when the stove was installed?

Well, they just connected it to the back of the stove. I have looped it over the beehive oven door so that it's about 3 feet off the ground and 3 feet to the left of the stove. At first it was hanging down near the floor and I thought that might have been making it colder - but it there's no way this room has hit 70 degrees yet.
 
mfglickman said:
SmokeyTheBear said:
Mary where did they place the room probe when the stove was installed?

Well, they just connected it to the back of the stove. I have looped it over the beehive oven door so that it's about 3 feet off the ground and 3 feet to the left of the stove. At first it was hanging down near the floor and I thought that might have been making it colder - but it there's no way this room has hit 70 degrees yet.

How many square feet is the house, how high are the ceilings, and the shape of the insulation and air infiltration?
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
mfglickman said:
SmokeyTheBear said:
Mary where did they place the room probe when the stove was installed?

Well, they just connected it to the back of the stove. I have looped it over the beehive oven door so that it's about 3 feet off the ground and 3 feet to the left of the stove. At first it was hanging down near the floor and I thought that might have been making it colder - but it there's no way this room has hit 70 degrees yet.

How many square feet is the house, how high are the ceilings, and the shape of the insulation and air infiltration?

It's about 2000 square feet, the stove is placed in the large fireplace opposite the (weatherstripped) front door as in the attached floorplan.

The floors are not insulated. We just added insulation to the attic but there was only access on one side. Better some than none I guess.

The heat is primarily in the room with the stove, and the stairway and bedroom above the stove. I had hoped the stove would heat the original house as shown in the floorplan - we are installing a woodstove to cover the large family room addition. So hoping for comfortable temps in about 1000 square feet.
 

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Did they construct a block off, seal it, and insulate it if they installed it in either of the fire places?

Also did they or you block off or otherwise do something to stop any air flow up the other fireplace flues?

Your stove is trying to reach its set point. I'd open the feed another notch and see if things improve.
 
Something is definitely not right. Pellets spilling at a feed setting of 3 is the first red flag. Overdraft is another possibility, but the stove really doesn't have an adjustment for excessive draft. The draft adjustment on the control panel is for low draft and only reduces the voltage of the fan by less than 10%, so it's more for fine adjusting. Your installer will need to restrict flow somehow if this is the case. I had to block my intake air by 50% to get mine burning correctly. Try running in stove temp for a while to see if you notice anything performance changes.
 
I'd love to see a DDM hooked to that thing to see what the ESP is reading.......also, a timing on the auger (how long, per minute, does the auger run in actuality)......also, try rolling the selector down to Stove mode WITHOUT changing anything else. Im guessing on 3 things- room sensing probe, ESP, or circuitboard.....by doing the stove mode thing, you might eliminate one issue. If its still under warrantee, the dealer should check this! But have them bring a DDM and magnehelic, just for fun.
 
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